Victims' families push Fullerton to take DUI grant

Jon Wilhite, the lone survivor of the crash in which three of his friends were killed by a drunken driver in 2009 in Fullerton, breaks down while addressing the Fullerton City Council Tuesday while his mother Betsy stands by his side.LOU PONSI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

FULLERTON – After dozens of emotional community members – including relatives of drunken-driving victims – condemned the City Council majority Tuesday for turning away a grant to fund sobriety checkpoints, the mayor decided to have the five-member body reconsider the issue at a future meeting. But there could be a catch.

The council had voted unanimously to accept a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety for $146,222 for enforcement programs that include saturation patrols designed to target drunken drivers, but it turned away a $50,000 grant earmarked specifically for checkpoints. Invoking mayoral privilege Tuesday, Mayor Sharon Quirk-Silva put the checkpoint issue back on the table for the Sept. 18 meeting.

But Capt. Dan Hughes, the acting police chief, said Wednesday that he was informed by the Traffic Safety grant administrator that if the council turns away the checkpoint grant again, the agency would rescind the $146,222 enforcement grant as well. The funds come from separate sources but are both administered by the state agency.

After learning the grant offers might be an all-or-nothing proposition, Councilman Greg Sebourn, who opposed accepting the $50,000 grant last week, said he will keep an open mind before casting a vote at the next meeting.

"I will give it fair consideration," said Sebourn, pointing to the high number of drinking establishments in the city's downtown.

Checkpoints – roadblocks manned by police officers who ensure drivers are sober – don't typically yield as many arrests as saturation patrols, in which officers scour areas for drunken drivers, but they do serve a purpose, Hughes said.

"I do believe (suppression patrols) are more effective in DUI enforcement, but not as effective as checkpoints for the educational component," the captain said. "You should utilize all resources possible to make sure that tragedies don't occur."

A survivor of one of the most notorious drunken-driving crashes in county history addressed the council Tuesday.

The crash occurred at a Fullerton intersection April 9, 2009, when Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, 22, and friends Courtney Stewart, 20, and Henry Pearson, 25, were killed when their car was hit by a repeat drunken driver. A fourth person in the car, Jon Wilhite, then 24, suffered what doctors called an internal decapitation but survived.

"If you guys allow checkpoints to cease, the blood is on your hands," Wilhite said, fighting back tears.

Had the drunken driver passed through a checkpoint the night of the crash, Courtney Stewart would still be alive, said Carrie Stewart-Dixon, the victim's mother.

"You might think that checkpoints only catch an average of four drunk drivers, but what if there were no checkpoints and one of those four drivers killed one of your children or family members?" Stewart-Dixon said. "Would you then be proud of your choice to turn down this money to support checkpoints?"

Councilman Bruce Whitaker, who voted against taking the checkpoint grant, cited statistics to argue that saturation patrols are more effective and less costly than checkpoints.

"The Nick Adenhart death in Fullerton was a terrible tragedy," Whitaker said. "But all of these accidents and deaths have happened while we've had DUI checkpoints. ... Those checkpoints failed to prevent those accidents.

"Merely saying that if it saves one life at whatever cost ... I think misses the point," Whitaker said. "What we really need to do is manage limited resources in a way to get the most effect from those limited resources."

Since 2011, Fullerton police have made 1,142 drunken driving arrests. Officers made a total of 2,189 DUI arrests in 2009 and 2010.

Fullerton police have not staged a checkpoint since 2010, which partly accounts for the recent drop in arrests, Hughes said.

"We believe that there are probably more drunks driving today than in 2007," Hughes said. "But the reason arrests are down is because resources are down. ... That is why these grants are so important."

Of the 14 motor-vehicle deaths in Fullerton since 2009, seven were related to alcohol, Hughes said.

Jon Wilhite, the lone survivor of the crash in which three of his friends were killed by a drunken driver in 2009 in Fullerton, breaks down while addressing the Fullerton City Council Tuesday while his mother Betsy stands by his side. LOU PONSI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Carrie Stewart-Dixon and husband Richard Dixon show a photo of Stewart-Dixon's daughter, Courtney Stewart, at the Fullerton City Council meeting Tuesday. Courtney Stewart was among three people killed by a drunken driver in Fullerton in 2009. LOU PONSI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
The Fullerton City Council listens to public comments at Tuesday's meeting. LOU PONSI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Jon Wilhite, who survived a drunken-driving crash in which three friends were killed, gets a hug from Capt. Dan Hughes, Fullerton's acting police chief, outside City Hall Tuesday. Wilhite had just asked the City Council to reconsider accepting a $50,000 DUI checkpoint grant that the council had turned down a week earlier. LOU PONSI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Capt. Dan Hughes, Fullerton's acting police chief, listens during an emotional council meeting Tuesday. LOU PONSI, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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